Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Cracked Orlando

If only I were in NYC, I'd go see this in a minute, but alas - you, dear East Coast readers, must attend in my stead.

On October 15 to 17, the Italian Academy at Columbia University presents performances of composer Jonathan Dawe's new opera, no, Dramma per Musica e Fractals, Cracked Orlando.

Now, what initially caught my eye is that the libretto is drawn from Ariosto's epic poem Orlando Furioso, which is the source of many, many libretti. Get this cast of characters:

Anthony Roth Costanzo, countertenor, Orlando

Mary Elizabeth Mackenzie, soprano, Angelica

Hai-Ting Chinn, mezzo-soprano, Alcina

Karim Sulayman, tenor, Medoro

Irresistible, eh? Not only that, but here's a description of the piece:

In his new piece, Dawe has created a work that re-forges early eighteenth century music through compositional workings based upon fractal geometry. Fractal-psychoanalyst Terry Marks-Tarlow has fashioned a new libretto merged with fragments by Grazio Braccioli (1727) and re-constructed it using Fibonacci growth patterns. London-based Alastair Boag directs.